A Toast
by NeverThink
Summary: Why is it that after work, Gene always stays behind whilst the others head off to Luigi's? Alex wants to know, so sneaks off to find out... no real pairing, i suppose, rated T for slight language, I do not own ashes to ashes or the characters, BBC does ;


_**Another one shot whilst I'm trying to figure out how to write the nest chapter of my other fic lol. This was inspired by the scene in episode 1 series 1, where Gene sits in his office drinking and the camera focuses on the 'Sam Wall' as I like to call it ;) ENJOY!**_

_**xxxNTxxx**_

Alex tip-toed gently across the dark, dusty room. Light seeped through a gap in the blinds that covered the very window she was planning on looking through – Gene's office. He was still in there, probably polishing off the last of his whiskey. He always did this, leaving the rest to retire to Luigi's by themselves and joining the party later on; for once, Alex wanted to know what it was that kept him busy for so long. But she also knew that if he caught her sneaking around and spying on him, he wouldn't exactly be best pleased. So she kept a low profile, finding herself outside his office already, staring straight at the poster which declared him to be the Manc Lion. She smiled. Of course, he loved his home back in Manchester, so much that Alex often wondered what kept him down here in London.

Alex peeped through the small gap where the blinds hadn't quite covered the entire window; the source of the blinding light that beamed into her line of vision. Floating on this, she could see tiny dust particles. She tried not to sneeze and give away her position. How could a man live in such filth?

Inside the office, Alex could see Gene lazing on his chair, leaning back with his legs resting on the desk in front of him. As she had suspected, a small glass of whiskey was his only companion, and his eyes didn't dare rip away from the bottle which stood next to his feet. For a while, he just stared, and Alex felt almost let down by the fact that everything seemed normal and she'd been right. At the most she had been hoping for something a little more interesting and strange. But everything was pretty okay. Alex was about to turn and leave, when the Guv suddenly tipped his head backwards and heaved himself up with a huge sigh. She panicked, searching for somewhere to hide for when he came over to the door, he was going to see her, he would yell… but instead, he headed for a different direction. The wall to her left. She moved her eyes with his pace.

"You were right about being addicted." He spoke softly yet surprisingly, so Alex felt herself jump out of her skin in shock. For a moment she thought that he was speaking to her, then she realised what he was staring at on the wall. The smiling face of a man she felt she knew a lot, but had not had the pleasure of meeting before it was too late.

Sam Tyler's picture seemed almost too false to go with the headlines that surrounded his stony expression - his death, the colleague tribute led by Gene – Alex smiled sadly at how her DCI could still be grieving after so long.

"Always drinking, me." Gene continued, lifting the glass as if to show his old partner. "Always was an' all. Ah well, try teachin' an' old dog new tricks… wait, yer did. Me. An' I still didn't learn, did I? Don't think I ever will."

The Guv sniffed loudly and Alex gave another sad smile.

"World's changin', Tyler." Gene took a sip of his single malt with a slurp. "You said that too, Mr Know-It-All. I remember you sayin' 'bout spying an' computers an' evidence actually bein' important. All o' that came true, didn't it? I think you were born to be part of it all… you slipped away just in time. You had to go an' drive into that river, you bloody idiot. Never came back, no matter how long I stood waiting for yer to resurface. Stubborn even in death, eh? An' you left that poor plonk. Poor Cartwright. Never got over yer, ruined her life. Guess it weren't your fault – for once. Can't predict these things. I just hope she comes back to us, see some sense, poor lass."

Gene held up his glass to the wall.

"This is for you, Sam. As always. I'll keep on toasting yer, even thought it won't change owt but at least maybe you're up there sayin' thanks… an' knowin' you you're probably chorusing the words 'I told you so'. Bastard."

Now Alex walked in. She couldn't help herself. Her hand had clenched around the door handle, pushed down and suddenly she'd found herself inside the office, looking straight into his torn eyes.

"What the bloody hell are you doin' here?" He snapped, back to typical Gene Hunt.

"I was, err…" Alex remembered quickly about the whole 'not letting him know she was there' thing. "I'd forgotten something. I heard you talking, acting upon assumption and presumed you were talking to me. I came inside to continue the conversation. You know." She waved a dismissive hand. "Sorry."

"Alright." He seemed to buy it. "You hear anything?"

"Nope." She shook her head, exaggerating a shrug. "Not a pippin."

"Good." Gene swallowed the last of his beverage, took one last glance at the wall and moved over to his desk, putting the glass down and closing the lid of the bottle. Alex watched from where she stood, arms folded and waiting, trying to act like she'd not seen – or heard – a thing. It seemed easy enough to fool him. But then as he turned his body to face her, Alex couldn't deny the tear she noticed spill silently down his cheek.

"Oh…" She made to wipe it with her sleeve.

"Gerrof me!" He barked, pushing her away like he'd done so many times before.

It was what Alex had expected, so she couldn't complain about the anger in his heart. Gene moved past her and stormed from the office. Before she left too, Alex took a look at Sam's face on the wall and nodded at him.

"Hope that wherever you've miraculously found yourself, Sam, you're happy with your choice. Good night."

_**Thank you, please R&R, all reviews are much appreciated even if I don't get time to reply to them all XD xxx**_


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